Photo Album: Community in Middletown, NJ Swarming with Digger Bees
Spotting the Digger Bees
I arrived on the property and spoke with the property maintenance director who showed me where the residents were seeing the bees. As I approached the area, I saw a large amount of digger bees in the mulch bed.
Digger Bee Also Called Ground Bees
Digger bees, also called ground bees are solitary, non-social wasps and each hole is a separate, independent nest of digger bees. The females dig these half-inch to one-inch deep burrows to nest and raise young. A key indication of a digger bee infestation is the multiple pencil-sized dirt mounds across a lawn.
Really Aren't a Threat
Digger bees may appear dangerous, but unless you directly handle them, they aren't at all aggressive.
Soaking Them
For treatment, I flooded each digger bee mound with a liquid residual. This application eliminates the digger bees almost immediately.